Xi promises more aid as Africa pushes back

Shanghai | China’s new president,
Xi Jinping
, has pledged to “intensify" Sino­African relations, promising aid, infrastructure investment and scholarships in a bid to address criticism that it has contributed to Africa’s underdevelopment.

In a keynote speech in the Tanzanian commercial capital Dar es Salaam on Monday as part of Mr Xi’s first overseas presidential trip, he said “unity and co-operation with African countries have always been an important foundation for China’s foreign policy. This will never change, not even when China grows stronger and enjoys a higher international status."

After Tanzania, Mr Xi flew to South Africa and met President
Jacob Zuma
on Tuesday. He is attending a two-day summit of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – in Durban.

Trade between Africa and China has doubled since 2007 to more than $200 billion and China has also invested and lent billions of dollars across the continent. China’s leaders have long leveraged off a perceived alliance with Africa against Western colonialism to strengthen ties.

However, Mr Xi has found himself on the defensive during this tour. Earlier this month, the governor of Nigeria’s central bank,
Lamido Sanusi
, wrote in the Financial Times that Africa was “willingly opening itself up to a new form of imperialism".

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He said that while it was true that China had set up huge mining operations and built infrastructure, these were mostly with imported labour and equipment. “China takes our primary goods and sells us manufactured ones," Mr Sanusi wrote. “This was also the essence of colonialism."

George Ayittey
, a Ghanaian economist and president of the Free Africa Foundation, a US-based research institute, said that “there’s a belief that since Africa got a raw deal from the colonial West, then the Chinese must be Africa’s best friend".

“But the evidence doesn’t show that, and the main criticism is that they are building infrastructure in exchange for Africa’s resources in deals that are structured to favour China," he said.

More than half China’s imports from Africa last year were coal and oil. Its exports, meanwhile, were mainly textiles, electrical equipment and machinery.

Mr Xi did acknowledge there were some strains on the relationship but he said Africa and China had a “shared destiny" and his government would continue to provide assistance without any political conditions.

As part of his “soft power" push, he said China would train 30,000 African professionals and provide 18,000 student scholarships over the next two years.

After South Africa, Mr Xi plans to visit the Republic of Congo, the last stop on his tour, which started in Russia.

A researcher on African studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
Zhang Hongming
, said it was “extremely important for China to maintain a good relationship with Africa". He said the relationship was based not just on trade but also on diplomatic muscle. Africa comprises 54 members of the United Nations, the biggest regional grouping.

Over their two-day summit, the BRICS countries are expected to discuss the establishment of a development bank and the pooling of foreign currency reserves.